Chinese firm seizes Nigeria’s guest houses in UK, lists them for $2.2m on eBay

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Caption: Nigeria House in London

Zhongshang Fucheng Industrial Investment Ltd, the Chinese firm involved in legal face-off with Nigeria over alleged contract breach by Ogun State government, has concluded plans to list two residential structures in Liverpool it seized from the country for sale on global online marketplace eBay.

They appear hell-bent on recovering their money from their business counterpart in Nigeria as it races to recover up to $70 million in arbitration awards.

Zhongshang Fucheng took possession of two buildings linked to the Nigerian government in Liverpool, United Kingdom, in June 2024, years after Nigeria failed to reach an agreement over an arbitration judgement handed down in 2021

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The properties, 15, Aigburth Hall Road, Liverpool and Beech Lodge, 49, Calderstones Road, Liverpool, were targeted after a December 2021 British court order gave Zhongshang executives the authority to confiscate Nigerian assets in the UK to recover the $70 million payment, which remained outstanding as of August 20, 2024, with two per cent monthly interest accruals.

The firm was awarded $55,675,000 plus interest of $9,400,000 and costs of £2,864,445 as of the date of the arbitration judgement on March 26, 2021, court documents revealed.

The company dragged Nigeria before the arbitration panel in the UK in 2018, alleging that Nigeria allowed its federal organs like the police, immigration and export processing authority to be deployed by Ogun State without due process.

The legal dispute stems from a 2016 decision by the Ogun State Government to revoke Zhongshan’s export processing zone management contract, which resulted to a long legal battle that has now spilled over into international courts

The company dragged Nigeria before the arbitration panel in the UK in 2018, alleging that Nigeria allowed its federal organs like the police, immigration and export processing authority to be deployed by Ogun State without due process.

Source– News Band